Dell XPS 15 9520 Review 2023

• The Dell XPS 15 9520 is a high-end laptop with impressive hardware, but its high price and limited creator-centric features may be a concern for some buyers, and it has misleading information about its chassis material, and its cooling system is compromised when placed flat on a desk.
  • The Dell XPS 15 9520 is a high-end laptop with impressive hardware, including a Core i7 processor, GeForce RTX 3050 Ti graphics, and 16GB of RAM, but its high price tag and limited creator-centric features may be a concern for some buyers.
  • The Dell XPS 15 9520 has misleading information on its product page regarding the material of its chassis, as it is actually made of carbon fiber and cast magnesium, not CNC aluminum.
  • The Dell XPS 15 9520 has various ports and features, including a USB-C port, SD card reader, headphone jack, and Thunderbolt 4 ports, but its cooling system is compromised when placed flat on a desk.
• The Dell XPS 15 9520 has a poorly fitting hinge and display assembly, but it has a large trackpad, basic keyboard, small bezels, and a Windows Hello compatible webcam, while the camera quality is not high and there are issues with palm rejection, and the LCD panel is good but overpriced, with full Srgb coverage and a maximum brightness of 480 nits when calibrated.
  • The Dell XPS 15 9520 has a poorly fitting hinge and display assembly, with a wobbly display, flexing bezel, and squelching noise, but it features a large trackpad, basic keyboard, small bezels, and a Windows Hello compatible webcam.
  • The Dell XPS 15 9520 has a decent keyboard and trackpad, but the camera quality is not high and there are issues with palm rejection, while the LCD panel is good but overpriced.
  • The display on the Dell XPS 15 9520 has full Srgb coverage, but it is not a wide gamut display and has a maximum brightness of 480 nits when calibrated, with minimal backlight bleed.
• The Dell XPS 15 9520 (2022) has impressive battery life lasting 19 hours and 16 minutes, but it has sound and mouse freezing issues due to DPC latency.
  • The sound system in the Dell XPS 15 laptop is surprisingly good, with a small tweeter and large woofer providing decent audio quality, and the battery life is impressive, lasting 19 hours and 16 minutes with heavy internet use and YouTube playback.
  • The Dell XPS 15 9520 (2022) has a significant battery life discrepancy compared to the 2022 g15, and it experiences DPC latency issues causing sound and mouse freezing.
• The Dell XPS 15 9520 has issues with audio, bloatware, color calibration, and unnecessary camera usage.
• The Dell XPS 15 9520 has a my dell app for adjusting system performance, with slow and quiet fans, thermal insulation keeping temperatures low, and a twin fan design cooling a 45 watt CPU and GPU.
  • The Dell XPS 15 9520 has a my dell app where you can adjust system performance parameters, including charging modes and performance modes.
  • The Dell XPS 15 is not as thin as it appears, but its cooling solution is not compromised, as the fans are slow to kick in and less noisy compared to a gaming laptop.
  • Skin temperatures on the Dell XPS 15 9520 rise slowly due to thermal insulation, with the palm rest and keyboard area reaching 30-35 degrees Celsius during light usage and the keyboard heating up to 50 degrees under heavy load, while the majority of the housing stays at around 30 degrees; the laptop features a twin fan design with two heat pipes to cool a 45 watt CPU and GPU, with the GPU also benefiting from Nvidia dynamic boost, resulting in a combined power usage of around 75 watts.
• The Dell XPS 15 9520 has severe throttling issues caused by a poorly installed plastic sheet, resulting in limited performance and ineffective cooling.
  • The laptop’s limited performance cannot be fully utilized under heavy workload due to significant throttling issues caused by a poorly installed plastic sheet interfering with cooling.
  • The thermal pads on the cooler of the Dell XPS 15 9520 are actually thermal insulators and only serve to lower the skin temperature of the bottom case, rather than effectively cooling the intended parts, as shown by thermal camera images.
• The Dell XPS 15 9520 has reliability issues with its power supply and copper cold plates, but performs well with CPU-only tasks and struggles with power fluctuations when using the RTX 3050 Ti GPU, although performance improves after applying fixes.
  • The Dell XPS 15 9520 has disappointing reliability issues with its power supply and exhibits pitting and scoring on its copper cold plates, but performs well in a CPU-only workload while struggling with chaotic power fluctuations when using the RTX 3050 Ti GPU.
  • The laptop’s GPU maintains a consistent temperature while the CPU fluctuates and gradually loses power, but after applying fixes, the test run shows improved performance.
• The Dell XPS 15 9520 is functionally broken, with misleading benchmark scores and a lack of clear target audience, making it a disappointing and overpriced option compared to other laptops on the market.

Conclusion

The Dell XPS 15 9520 is a disappointing and overpriced laptop with various hardware and performance issues, making it a poor choice compared to other options on the market.